I have never heard a Brubaker live in person, only on youtube & most of the videos I have seen of the more expensive Brubakers has been a crap shoot, some I like, some I don't. The video of Kevin Walker demoing the Brute has been my favorite. The bass tone in that video sounds more like a bass, more natural. In most videos that I have seen, the expensive Brubakers, sounds like a bad electric project. But, to there defense, that just could have been just bad recording or just bad EQing, on the players part. Though the Kevin Walker demo of the Brute is a studio recording, & the more expensive Brubaker I've heard was mostly in a live on youtube, the more expensive Brubaker still should sound way better than what I have heard, so far. They even have a bass, that you can insert different preamps, was not real impressed with the tones but, loved the concept.